Learning to have the Equipping of the Ministry (2)

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us - 2 Corinthians 4:7.

For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh - 2 Corinthians 4:11.

Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory - 2 Corinthians 4:16-17.

Equipped in Spiritual Life

In addition to being equipped in the mind, emotion, and will, we must be equipped spiritually if we desire to be adequately equipped for ministry.

If you are a Christian who desires to follow the Lord all your days, the thing that will matter most is your spiritual development, not how much you can do or how manifested you are.

Sometimes I think that since there are so many Ph.D.'s among us, we should advertise them for the sake of the gospel. We could say on our signs or invitations, "Dr. So-and-So is going to preach." Many denominations have found this effective. Every time I am tempted in this way, however, the Lord checks with me and asks, "Although this may yield results, will it build My church? Will it help others to be perfected?" Rather than raising up the brothers or perfecting them, such a thing may ruin them. I thank the Lord for reminding me that this is His recovery. We should not use man's way to do the Lord's work.

Not of Logic, but of the Spirit

The difference between the Lord's recovery and Christianity is that Christianity can preach the gospel by any means felt to be reasonable, whereas we in the Lord's recovery are restricted to the way of the Spirit's operation.

In order to gain others, the Catholic Church has even gone to the extreme of making statues of Mary the mother of Jesus in the form of local goddesses, and remaking pagan festivals into Christian celebrations, as in the case of Christmas. In Brazil, the Catholic Church condones a fleshly festival called Carnival (which literally means "of the flesh"). During Carnival time, everyone is allowed to sin. When that festival is over, there are long lines at the confessional booths. Catholicism has adopted what they feel is logically the best way to gain or keep people.

The principle in Christianity is to be logical and effective, whereas in the Lord's recovery our guiding principle is that everything must be spiritual. When we serve the Lord, it must be a matter of the Spirit, not a matter of simply studying what is most effective. Others may promote some among them who have Ph.D.'s and advertise that they have "Dr. So-and-So" as a preacher. To do so may seem logical. Wouldn't that seem to benefit us and gain us some respect and credibility? It may indeed, but it may not be something of the Spirit.

We have the goal of getting people saved, and so does Christianity. Our gospel may be higher than the one preached in Christianity, but we also rejoice in seeing people saved. We should not despise such a burden, for God desires all men to be saved, and that none would be lost. However, for us, the higher and more spiritual the process, the better. To those in Christianity, the goal often justifies the means. For us, however, the means we use to gain others must match our goal; they must be spiritual.

Equipping Yourself to Be a Spiritual Man

We should repeatedly ask ourselves, "Am I spiritual?" We should equip ourselves from our youth to be spiritual in all things.

Being Spiritual in All Things

Some of you are thinking about your future, and wondering whether you should serve the Lord full-time, or whether you should get a job. The question, however, should not be whether you should get a job, but whether or not you are spiritual. Considering how to make money is not evil, but it is usually not spiritual, for the Lord is not typically interested in that. We must learn to be one with the Lord and make our decisions in a spiritual way. No more should you think in terms of whether or not something is possible or profitable, or whether or not something is right or wrong; from now on you must consider simply whether or not something is of the Spirit.

The value of the Lord's recovery totally lies in its being something out of the divine life. Therefore everything among us must likewise be spiritual. We must equip ourselves in all things to be spiritual.

Once a full-time serving brother came to me about taking up a job. I asked him why. He told me that financially he could no longer afford to be full-time. Every time he went out to eat with others he got nervous, for he often did not have enough in his bank account to cover the check, nor did he wish to use his credit card for fear of piling up debt. I told him, "Brother, unless the Lord supplies you bountifully, do not use your credit card. In this way, you will have more opportunity to pray, for you will have to rely upon the Lord."

If we wish to serve the Lord, we must have a breakthrough in the matter of trusting the Lord for our finances. When I first began to serve the Lord, I felt that He would supply my need. Whenever I prayed about this, however, the Lord would say, "Don't you still have money in the bank?" I did, so I stopped praying about my financial situation. I realized the Lord would not begin to do anything until my savings were used up.

My wife and I learned to be careful with every dollar. We could not afford to go out to eat, or even to eat that well at home. My wife was pregnant at the time, and neither one of us had a job. A certain amount of money was needed to pay for childbirth expenses, and I did not know how that need would be met, for we were not being cared for by the church, nor by anyone else for that matter. We didn't have anything, and all I could do was trust in the Lord. Then one day my wife stopped by her previous employer's office to visit her colleagues. One of them noticed her condition and asked whether she became pregnant while she was still working there. As this was the case, she was told that she was eligible for five hundred dollars towards hospital expenses. That was exactly the amount we needed. When I heard this, I had a praise to the Lord within me. I told Him, "Lord, You are living and You are real."

After our savings were finally used up, I prayed and told the Lord, "Lord, now it is Your turn." I prayed this way for seven days, and the Lord began to supply us. To this day, the Lord's care has never faltered. There have been times when we were down to our last dollar. In such a life we are full of joy. Once we went to the market with just enough to buy some milk for our son and some bread for ourselves, but as we walked we sang hymns, realizing our life was in His hands. What is this? This is the spiritual life.

If you equip yourself with the determination to live such a spiritual life, you will find that the Lord is indeed in charge of everything for your sake. Therefore, learn to be spiritual in everything. If you exercise yourself to be spiritual, you will equip yourself to be a man of the Spirit, and you will be able to serve the church spiritually. If from the beginning you do not equip yourself in such a manner, there is little possibility that you will be able to properly serve in the church.

Equipping Yourself With Spiritual Understanding in All Things

If you love the Lord and desire to follow Him, then you must realize that all things that happen to you are spiritual. In other words, you must recognize all things as being spiritual.

Having Spiritual Understanding

After we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we should no longer have the idea that something is lucky, or unlucky, or coincidental, for we must begin to realize that the Lord's hand is in everything that happens to us; nothing is accidental.

The Lord trained His disciples to have such spiritual understanding. This is why, after His death and resurrection, He repeatedly appeared to them for a period of forty days before His ascension. He did this to train them to realize that in everything He was always with them.

Even though we are the Lord's followers, we still find ourselves wondering about things as though the Lord was not truly with us. For example, as we ponder things, we may still consider the pros and cons, or how unfairly treated we are by someone, or how something should be changed so that it may be more beneficial to us. We must, however, begin to see that all things come from the Lord's hand. We must be exercised to see the Lord's hand in all things in our lives.

This is the reason the teachings of the Lord on the earth did not always seem to follow a consistent pattern. He wanted to train His disciples that in all things they must follow the Spirit rather than a teaching.

Knowing God Spiritually

The biggest problem facing those who serve the Lord in His recovery today is that the saints are occupied with right and wrong instead of what is of the Spirit. For instance, if your presentation of the truth is not up to my standard, I may intervene and take over your message, instead of helping you enter into the spiritual process that true ministry requires. If I take over and do not allow you to learn, it indicates that I myself am not spiritual. The Lord desires that we who are spiritual bring others into the process of becoming spiritual also.

We may think we have given everything to the Lord, but we are more complicated than we realize. When certain things happen, it may become evident that we are still without spiritual understanding. The person who has spiritual understanding sees everything spiritually. Whatever happens, He sees the Lord's mercy and blessing in it. In all things he can gain benefit and experience God, for to him there is no such thing as right or wrong, good or bad, lucky or unlucky. Everything that happens to a spiritual person has spiritual value.

To become spiritually equipped is not a matter of knowing the Bible, but a matter of seeing all things as being of the Spirit. The Lord has arranged all circumstances for your spiritual benefit. The spiritual person recognizes this.

In 1988, the Lord's recovery faced a big test. Some were spreading rumors about Brother Lee, his family, and the Lord's recovery in general. They also blamed saints and elders for certain things. The reason saints could do such things was because they had never had adequate spiritual equipping, even though they had been among us for many years. Because they lacked spiritual understanding, they were caught by what seemed right, what seemed wrong, and what, in their opinion, should have been done differently.

Receiving Spiritual Learning through Our Environment

Brothers and sisters, isn't the Lord greater than anything else? And are we not all in the Lord's hand? Are not all things in our lives measured to us from the Lord? Don't all things that happen to us at least require the Lord's permission? We must have this kind of understanding. The college we enter, the locality we are in, and those we are placed with - all these things have been arranged by God's sovereignty, and are spiritual matters.

We should develop this realization while we are young. We have to realize that with all things that happen to us, there is no such thing as coincidence. The Lord measures all things to us with the intention that we might develop in the Lord and become spiritually equipped.

By birth, we are all natural. Since we are natural, how is it that we could ever serve, lead, or administrate in the church, which is spiritual? We should realize that all things are for us to become spiritual, so we should not complain about anything that happens, or have any adverse opinion. Instead, in whatever we encounter, we must see that it has been personally prepared by the Lord for our profit and for the church's profit. If we do not equip ourselves with this understanding when we are young, our service will be based upon our seniority and our past experience, and one day we will confront something in the church life that will cause loss to the church.

Learning to Be Spiritual in Small Things

From the very beginning, we must learn to be spiritual even in the smallest things. For instance, after buying a comb some might say, "How unlucky I am! This comb is nothing like it seemed when I bought it." Such a comment indicates that this person is not spiritual. Perhaps some dry their hands on your face towel, which you find irritating. Can you then say, "Lord, how is it that I love this towel more than I love You? Lord, forgive me!" Use everything for your equipping.

I have often heard testimonies such as, "How blessed am I of the Lord! I found a nice house at a very low price, and saved thousands of dollars." But to my feeling if someone had bought a house at a high price with poor quality, he would have learned much more. Don't treat the small things lightly. Whether or not you become useful to the Lord has little to do with how much you pray or labor; instead it has much to do with whether or not you have a right heart (that is, a proper emotion, mind, and will).

One day I could not locate my favorite, most comfortable shirt. So I asked the Lord to help me find it, but He replied, "The reason it is gone is because you like it so much." Another time I purchased a towel in France that was very plush. Later I took it with me when traveling and lost it the second day of my trip. I couldn't find it anywhere. Is this not a small thing? Yet we must learn that even in the small things we need to be spiritual.

It is the small things that prevent you from being spiritual. You go to the barber and are not satisfied with your haircut; you buy new eyeglasses, and find something wrong with them; you are going somewhere in a rush, and end up in a traffic jam. These things happen because the Lord wants to equip you to be spiritual.

Our Lord is loving and He is jealous. Do you love some article of clothing? He is not happy about it. Are you attached to a plush towel? He does not like that either. He wants you to enjoy Him and to love Him alone. He is not happy if you are enjoying something besides Him.

Learn to confine your desire to the Lord alone. Enjoy the Lord's riches and His sweetness. If you are able to do this, you will be spiritual. When you are under the Spirit's authority, then you are a person of the Spirit. Such a person sees nothing as lucky or unlucky, right or wrong, good or bad - he sees all things as being from the Lord.

Equipped to React Spiritually in All Things

In addition to spiritual understanding, we must also equip ourselves to react spiritually in all situations.

Understanding Versus Reacting

Spiritual understanding is something for your receiving, whereas spiritual reaction is something for your doing. For example, I may like one of my shirts very much, because it is comfortable. When I cannot find my favorite shirt, I need to have a proper understanding about why it has disappeared, and not blame my poor wife for losing it. This relates to our spiritual understanding. Then what about my reaction? When I ask the Lord why my shirt is missing, a reaction should take place. I may begin to confess to the Lord, and say, "Lord, I am so foolish to love this shirt more than I love You. Please forgive me. There are still so many things I am fond of besides You." You should not simply react naturally, and go buy another shirt. No! In everything you should have the appropriate spiritual reaction.

There were two sisters who lived together. One had a hot personality, and the other was cold. They seemed to be complete opposites. Perhaps the hot one desired to serve a cup of tea to the cold one, but the cold one did not like being bothered by such things. Perhaps the cold one has some spiritual understanding, so she might pray, "Lord, thank You for putting me with this 'hot' sister. I receive Your arrangement." If she is able to react spiritually, she will also pray, "Lord, what will You teach me? How are You seeking to train me? What are You trying to develop in me? I am cold, but this sister is so hot." Perhaps she then receives some realization concerning herself, and sees how her coldness prevents her from being built up with other saints. Then when the hot sister comes to her to offer her some tea, she may say, "Could I make it this time?" This is now a spiritual reaction, something beyond mere spiritual understanding.

The hot sister may also gain something spiritually. Perhaps she learns to "read" the other sister, and how to behave around her when her eyebrows are set a certain way. Because she sees this, she offers her sister something to drink. Then the cold one, in response, makes her tea instead. In this way, both of them have learned something of what it means to be spiritual.

To give another example, suppose two sisters are roommates. One is possessive of her things, while the other doesn't even care about what belongs to her or what doesn't - she uses whatever she puts her hands on, regardless of to whom it belongs. The latter must learn to be sensitive to the Lord about not using other people's things, and the former needs to hear the Lord when He tells her to be generous with what belongs to her. This sweet interaction with the Lord is what I call spiritual reaction.

Do not take this matter lightly, nor think it is something shallow. All the problems in the church life stem from the saints' inability to react to things spiritually. This is why the churches are frustrated from being built up.

One brother gave this testimony: "This morning I hurriedly got ready so that I might arrive on time for the meeting. My wife, however, argued with me, and my son refused to get out of bed. And when I finally arrived, the meeting was cold and dead." This kind of testimony indicates a lack of spiritual understanding. When his wife argues with him, this brother should realize that the Lord is in that, and when his son refuses to get up, he should feel, "Lord, this is something from You."

Then how should this brother react spiritually to this situation once he has this kind of spiritual understanding? Perhaps he would feel to rise up earlier and prepare breakfast for his wife, and then invite her to join him, and then go together to the meeting. You must eventually learn such lessons if you wish to serve in the church life. Develop this ability to spiritually understand and react to all situations.

Acknowledging the Lord in All Things

Once you are truly equipped in these matters, you will be able to have a healthy walk before the Lord. Most have problems in their spiritual walk because they lack a fundamental trust in the Lord and realization of the Lord's involvement in all things. They basically live as if the Lord is undependable, and the Lord is not involved in their lives. However, once you see that all things are from Him, and you acknowledge Him in all things, you will be able to react as the Lord wishes, and you will be able to gain Him in all things. Also, you will be able to minister Him unto others.

Brothers and sisters, these are very precious and important principles that we must take very seriously. We should continually tell the Lord, "I do not want to be someone who is caught by right and wrong. As I follow You, I want to react to everything according to spiritual understanding." Such a person will not make decisions in a natural way, nor will he regard things in his life as being good or bad, lucky or unlucky. Such a person will be able to live a spiritual life.

It is not an easy matter, however, to equip yourself to have spiritual understanding, and to have the ability to react to all things spiritually. There will be times when you are tempted to feel that something is not fair, or that you have been misunderstood. Even in these situations, however, you must exercise spiritual understanding and seek to react spiritually. You must learn to equip yourself in this way.

In 1989 some saints accused Brother Lee of something, but he did not respond. One day he told me, "Titus, I could not go to the Lord's table meeting for more than a year. Look at the church in Anaheim at that time. How could I present myself in the Lord's table?" How do you think a brother such as Brother Lee might feel about not being able to partake of the table with the saints? Anaheim was a church he himself had raised up. On the Lord's Day morning, what would his feeling be as he was separated from the saints?

Brother Lee and I had much fellowship, and we prayed together and fasted during that ordeal. His feeling and his reaction only had in view what was most profitable for the church, and how to recover the brothers involved. Brother Lee practiced this from the beginning of his serving life. From the beginning, his service was according to spiritual understanding and in all things he exercised himself to react spiritually. Because this was his practice, when such a crisis arose he was able to see it spiritually and react to it spiritually. Learn, from the beginning, in all things and in all situations, to see things spiritually, and to react to things spiritually. Do not be natural in your understanding, and do not react to things according to what appears right or wrong. Equip yourself to serve the Lord as one who is spiritual.

Equipped to Be Spiritually Sensitive

When you learn to understand things spiritually, and to react to things spiritually, you will become someone who is keen to the things of the Spirit; you will become a person with spiritual awareness.

A person who is spiritually keen and aware is always seeking to live in the Lord's presence. He is continuously watching in spirit, and ready for anything. When someone speaks, he is inwardly clear about where they are at. He is not easily caught, persuaded, or led away to other things. He exercises himself to see what God is doing.

Spiritual Awareness Determining Service

Your spiritual awareness determines the effectiveness of your service. When you are criticized, do you react by asking the Lord whether that criticism is true? And if it is not, do you swallow it, and if it is, do you confess? Jesus said, "Blessed are you when they say every evil thing against you because of Me." You should be prepared for this, for it is something God has arranged for all who seek to follow Him.

You must equip yourself to be on guard against seeing things according to right or wrong. Instead, you must see things spiritually. It is a pity that so many who serve the Lord have never equipped themselves in this way. Although many have extensively read Brother Lee's writings, their spiritual understanding is still weak, as is their ability to react to things spiritually. Needless to say, such saints are not spiritually keen. These saints, when they serve the church, do so in a principled manner, but they are often unclear about the real condition of the saints. Thus, they may lead the saints into contentiousness or controversy without any consciousness of what they are doing.

Brothers, be earnest about this, for your spiritual growth will be determined by your spiritual awareness. How well you are able to minister and function will depend upon how spiritually keen you are. If you are spiritually sensitive, when you read the Bible, you will discover truth. If you are spiritually keen, you will react spiritually in all situations. If you are someone who has developed a high degree of spiritual awareness, your spiritual riches will come forth readily as you fellowship with others, and in a manner befitting the need. If you are equipped in this way, you will know how to help others according to their real need, for you will be spiritually sensitive to their situation.

Equipped To Be Full of Anointing

Being Spiritual Equals Being Anointed

You cannot say that if a person does not manifest the anointing, he is not spiritual. If he is anointed, however, then he most definitely is spiritual. If he is anointed in his living, in his speaking, in his work for the Lord, and in his relatedness with the saints, he is a spiritual man. An anointed person is one who is able to supply others with life and to build up the church.

The Operation of Christ Is the Anointing

If you do not understand the Spirit, then you do not know the anointing, for the anointing is totally a matter of the Spirit. We can even say that Christ in His operation is the anointing. If Christ is free to continually operate upon me, then I am a person under the anointing. My living under the anointing equals my living in Christ's operation.

If I am someone who is under the anointing, then as I am driving my car, Christ is operating; as I am eating, Christ is operating; when I am fellowshipping with the brothers, Christ is operating; when I am gathered with the saints, Christ is operating; and when I am pursuing with the saints, Christ is operating. This experience of the operating Christ is the anointing.

The Spirit and the Service of the Spirit

How can we have the operating Christ in our experience? From where does the anointing come? If we wish to have the anointing, we must have the Spirit, for apart from the Spirit, there is no anointing.

Many believers love the Lord, but how many experience His anointing? In Christianity, many exercise their zeal and human ability, but few know the anointing. Even among us, how many know what the anointing is? By the Lord's mercy, because of those who have been raised up among us, we do have some leading that is according to the Spirit and the divine life. We must all realize that "the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). We must understand this, and we must function in the church life according to the anointing Spirit, who is the Lord Himself. If we do not function according to the Spirit, our function is not something genuine, and it will eventually be rejected by the Body.

Suppose a brother comes among you and boasts of his service and exercises some kind of seniority. He may mention all the past trainings and conferences he participated in over the past years. Upon hearing of all his past experiences, you may respect and honor him. But if you have some growth in life, you may also realize that, while he is a good brother, he lacks life and the Spirit. Therefore, in time your growth in life will reject what this brother presents himself as being. You will not reject him as a brother, but you will reject his function, for in the church life, everything must be exclusively of the Spirit.

Being Full of the Anointing; Being Full of God

You must have the Spirit, you must have spiritual understanding, you must be one who reacts to things spiritually, and you must become increasingly more spiritually sensitive. You must be able to see all things spiritually, and be able to know and help people spiritually. It is crucial that you develop spiritual awareness. If you become spiritually keen, and if your spirit is strong, rich, and full of the operation of life, then you will be a person full of anointing.

This anointing is the Triune God Himself, the constituting and operating Triune God in our spirit. What God is, the anointing is. The anointing substantiates in our spirit what Christ is, what Christ does, what Christ has accomplished, what Christ wants, and what Christ desires. If we are full of anointing, we are full of God, full of Christ, full of the testimony of the Triune God, and full of the Spirit's flowing. The Lord is able to use such a one. May the Lord have mercy on us.